Turn Sideways into the Light

A few weeks ago, I heard a story about two tribes in Ireland. This story is so good that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And then, wait for it….I had an idea for a poem. Here’s the story and then a poem.

Tribe #1 organized their days around beauty. After a day of work, the village would gather to sing songs and tell stories into the night. Occasionally, they would all dress up and put on elaborate performances. Tribe #2 organized their days around wealth, land, and power. After a day of work, they strategized, scouted other villages, and made plans to conquer. When Tribe #2 tribe heard about Tribe #1 they laughed at their strange ways and challenged them to a great battle.

Tribe #1 clothed themselves elegantly and prepared for a life and death fight. When the day came, the battle lines drawn and the horns blared that the fight was about to begin. Tribe #1 surprised everyone by not charging forward instead, as the legend says; they turned sideways into the light of the sun and disappeared. Isn’t that language peculiar and brilliant? They turned sideways into the light.

Celtic legend says that from time to time Tribe #1 returns to the earth to rescue the world with beauty once again. I love this story! Did you catch that They turned sideways into the light. This brave tribe showed us another way of being human. I love the idea of refusing to battle in traditional ways. Resistance and long-term social change is an act of great imagination. And now, here’s the poem.

*A huge thanks to poet David Whyte for sharing this story on his audiobook “What to Remember When Waking.”